Playoff System Must Be Fixed
By Seth Everett
The reaction to my 6-man rotation idea was expectedly mixed. Staying up late watching Cliff Lee dominate the Giants gave me the idea to try another idea.
I've said this on the radio for years now. But typing it on this blog? This is foreign territory. Here goes.
I want a 2nd wild card team in each league. The two wild cards would play a 1 game playoff to decide who advanced to the Division Series. I only want a 1 game playoff. Baseball has discussed a best-of-3, which is a bad idea to begin with.
The playoff system is too flawed to continue. The Phillies lead over the Braves is significant. That isn't a big story because the Braves have the inside track at the Wild Card. Out West, the Diamondbacks are chasing the Giants, while also pursuing the Braves for the Wild Card.
The American League is actually worse. This weekend, the Yankees visit the Red Sox for a series that is big to no one, despite the fact that the team's start the series within a game of each other!
Both these teams are going to the playoffs, so frankly, I don't care who wins. A 1 game playoff would be something teams avoid like the plague!
The Braves would be chasing the Phillies like their season depended on it. The Yankees & Red Sox would be playing like it's the playoffs immediately.
This system achieves 2 goals. It allows for other teams to be given new life as they fight to be that 2nd Wild Card. But it also restores the division race as the Division Winner has extra incentive because they wouldn't have to be concerned with the 1 game playoff.
The 2 out of 3 format would actually hurt the division winners. Imagine, the Phillies win their division, only to have Atlanta & Arizona take 3-5 days to complete a mini-series just to see who can face them? Sorry, but the post-season has too many days off as it is, no need to penalize them by having them wait for almost a week.
This is something the commissioner's office is considering. I'd ask you to consider this as the Pennant Race fizzles down the stretch.
